The London Design Festival was established in 2003 as an annual event to celebrate and promote London as the creative capital of the world and gateway to the UK’s world class creative industries. The Festival acts as a platform for a large and diverse range of partner organisations drawn from across the design community to stage the UK's biggest annual design event. Each year, the Festival presents new collaborations - bringing new projects to public audiences and mirroring the uniquely diverse nature of London's design scene.
The London Design Festival continues to develop and evolve - creating new networks, stimulating growth in the sector, increasing the opportunity for trade, and enhancing the reputation of London and the UK as a place for creative excellence and innovation.
The Festival is a fixture on the international calendar attracting thousands of visitors from across the world, during the ten days it runs in September. In past years the Festival has included a host of world-class talent and is now internationally one of the largest of its kind. In 2008, it attracted official delegations from over 30 countries, had total visitors estimated at 300,000 and included over 200 projects across the city.
The London Design Festival produces a Guide every year, containing information about activity. This is distributed across London in September. Many of the events at the design festival are free to attend.
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In 2009, for the first time, London Design Festival took up residence within the Victoria and Albert Museum, one of the world’s greatest museums of art and design. The V&A set aside the newly opened Sackler Centre and other areas of the museum for Festival events, shows, talks and installations. Highlights included:
Size + Matter is a cornerstone of the London Design Festival, located at the Southbank Centre for one month during the Festival. Consisting of the Royal Festival Hall, The Hayward, Queen Elizabeth Hall and high profile public spaces, the site for the Size + Matter project is a popular outdoor attraction in London. In 2009 Size + Matter was seen by an estimated 763,000 visitors.
The Size + Matter project was first commissioned by the London Design Festival in 2007 in order to explore the dynamic between a chosen material, the manufacturing company and a leading designer or architect. The project is based on a partnership where the manufacturer supplies the material, its fabrication, and access to expertise.
The aims of the project have always been to challenge the perception of the materials used, to push the boundaries of that material, and to work on a different scale.
2007 - "Urban Nebula", Zaha Hadid; "Prototile", Amanda Levete
2008 - "Sclera", David Adjaye
2009 - "Supercell", Marc Newson; "Paper Tower", Shigeru Ban
Every year, the London Design Festival is granted sole use of Trafalgar Square during the Festival to host a design event.
The London Design Festival has previously delivered three events in the Square, with the intention of introducing design to a much wider audience. The projects have generated substantial press coverage and awareness of the London Design Festival.
2006 – “The Big Chair Grab”, Tom Dixon
2007 – “Great Light Giveaway”, Tom Dixon; “LomoWorldWall Exhibition”, Lomographic Society International
2009 – “The Tournament”, Jaime Hayon
The London Design Medal, awarded during the Festival, celebrates individuals that make outstanding contributions to the world through their achievements and influence on contemporary design.
The medal is designed by Domenic Lippa of Pentagram. Pentagram are also responsible for all London Design Festival branding. Thomas Fattorini Ltd, a long established British medal manufacturer based in the West Midlands, produce the double-sided medal which is 75mm in diameter, made from Sterling Silver with a gold plate finish.
Sir John Sorrell CBE - Chairman, London Design Festival (non-voting)
Ben Evans - Director, London Design Festival (non-voting)
Sir Mark Jones - Director, Victoria & Albert Museum
Ilse Crawford - Creative Director, Studioilse
Tony Chambers - Editor, Wallpaper* Magazine
Ekow Eshun - Artistic Director, ICA
Professor Jeremy Myerson - Royal College of Art
Sir Michael Bichard - Chairman, Design Council
Peter Wallis - Chairman, SRU
Michael Morris - Co-Director, Artangel
Alice Rawsthorn- Design Correspondent, International Herald Tribune
2007 – Zaha Hadid
2008 – Marc Newson
2009 – Sir Paul Smith
2010 – Thomas Heatherwick
Sir John Sorrell CBE, Chairman
Ben Evans, Director
William Knight, Deputy Director